Groupama Asset Managment Decreases Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Groupama Asset Managment lowered its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 53.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 33,410 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 38,829 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment's holdings in Ecolab were worth $7,835,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 28.3% during the third quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 1,302 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $332,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 10,493 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,679,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its position in Ecolab by 4.2% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 18,018 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,601,000 after buying an additional 722 shares during the period. PDT Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the third quarter worth about $230,000. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its position in Ecolab by 7,037.0% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 36,613 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $9,348,000 after acquiring an additional 36,100 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

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Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of ECL stock traded down $12.59 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $237.65. The stock had a trading volume of 2,594,535 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,133,760. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $256.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $250.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.41 billion, a PE ratio of 32.20, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $217.05 and a 12 month high of $273.69.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.09%. Ecolab's payout ratio is currently 35.23%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David Maclennan bought 400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,964,059.17. This trade represents a 2.18 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total transaction of $1,510,572.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $996,486.96. This represents a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on ECL shares. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Ecolab from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $289.33.

Ecolab Company Profile

Ecolab Inc provides water, hygiene, and infection prevention solutions and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Global Industrial; Global Institutional & Specialty; and Global Healthcare & Life Sciences. The Global Industrial segment offers water treatment and process applications, and cleaning and sanitizing solutions to manufacturing, food and beverage processing, transportation, chemical, metals and mining, power generation, pulp and paper, commercial laundry, petroleum, refining, and petrochemical industries.